Redakai Trading Card Game-Review and Giveaway

If you have school-aged boys in your household, you’re going to want to brace yourself for this. Spin Master Toys, the creator of the wildly popular Bakugan trading card game, has once again taken the gaming world by storm with its newest creation…Redakai!

Redakai is the first and only 3D trading card game and with two different play modes for both younger and older Redakai warriors, it sounded absolutely intriguing. I was thrilled when I got the chance to review a Redakai X-Reader Starter Pack for myself.

The X-Reader Starter Pack comes with two packages of cards and an X-Reader portable battlefield so that a child can play with a friend right away. I gave Zackary his Redakai set as a special present after his first day of Kindergarten. We sat down together so that I could explain to him how the game worked.

Luckily, I’d participated in an exclusive online Redakai Play-by-Play session earlier that month so I was well equipped to show Zackary how the game worked. The basic game really is designed for younger players; something that I was absolutely thrilled about. I’ve seen other trading card games before and most of them seem so complicated. Thanks to the Blast3D technology of the Redakai cards, things like damage to a player and changes to defences are shown automatically.

The main calculation involved in the basic game is simply for players to look at the damage their Attack Card causes and see if it is higher or lower than their friend’s current defence. There are three different coloured attacks and defences (blue, red and green) and if the Attack Card has a higher number than the opponent’s Character Card defence score of the same colour, the attack “hits” and the player can place the card on top of their friend’s card and hopefully cause some damage.

To put it simply, when I picked up a Shockwave Attack Card with 250 green attack points, I looked at Zackary’s Character Card and saw that he only had 200 green defence points. So my card goes on top of his, and because the card is clear plastic with the necessary details printed onto it, one of his three yellow health bars is covered by red to indicate damage. What was even more fun was how the “attack” image itself was visible in front of the player as if it was actually happening!

There is an element of math in the game and because the cards deal with hundreds, Redakai is recommended for ages six and up. But Zackary has been proficient with numbers since he first started counting and he had no problem making the necessary calculations to play the game. He had a great time placing his cards down and especially loved the special Monster Cards that gave his player extra defence and a cool new look!

For older players, there is an advanced game as well and to be honest, just looking at the advanced instructions printed on the bottom of the cards had me confused. But that’s what makes Redakai so great; it lets both new players and experienced ones enjoy the game at their current skill levels!

The other great thing about Redakai (and I’m sure every mother of an energetic school-aged boy will agree with me) is the cards themselves. Because they are made of plastic instead of paper, they are unbelievably durable. They can go through the washing machine, be shoved into a pocket and get put through almost any other abuse a child can dish out, and still come out of it looking great!

From Zackary’s reaction to Redakai, I’m sure that this unique new trading card game is going to be a huge hit. There is no doubt in my mind that boys everywhere are going to absolutely love collecting cards and battling friends with Redakai. If you’ve got a boy in elementary school, chances are you may have heard about Redakai already. But if you haven’t, you will soon! So why not pick up an X-Drive Power Pack or an X-Reader Starter Kit and let your child start enjoying all the fun of Redakai today!

Buy It: To purchase Redakai Kits or Power Packs, check your local toy store or mass merchandise store

Win It: One lucky reader is going to win a Redakai X-Drive Power Pack from Spin Master Toys

To Enter (mandatory): Visit the official Redakai site and leave a blog comment about something you liked or something you learned there, then let me know you did using the Rafflecopter form below

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above were provided free of charge from the company or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Mommy Kat and Kids and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view full Terms of Use and Policies